it uses the sound of the track instead of just using the voice for poly
try creating a bunch of different sounds on each track, then turning that on with poly and selecting the voices 
in poly config
voices 1x 2x 3x 4x … all checked
allocation RESET
use trk sounds X … I check it on …
track 1 the vanilla stock sound without anything fancy
track 2 single chord (A 005)
track 3 303 clone (A012)
track 4 flute2 … hhhholy fuck!
now i know what is happening!
cant believe that … it sort of changes the sounds that I play on a track with the sounds that I have previously assigned to the other 3 tracks!
what the heck is going on??? what is the logic behind that? and why would i want to use that? , i guess for wicked elektron style madness and fuckery …
who or what decides when which sound is played on the mini keyboard?
has the allocation reset -rotate - reassign setting also something to do with that?
I understand unison and I am proud to know that
thanks a lot SUBQ for your pointer into that direction… learned a lot in the last 5 minutes!
hey subq
I keep reading your post and still more questions …
t uses the sound of the track instead of just using the voice for poly
do you mean [u]TRACKS /u … what is the difference between track and voice?
try creating a bunch of different sounds on each track, then turning that on with poly and selecting the voices
turning THAT on, what THAT? with poly, huh, with poly? where to press what? in which menu? … selecting the voices, which voices to select where?
sorry for being undereducated …
my fault for not being clear
best way to understand it is go into Kit config, Poly Config
actually, first go to each track and create a sound or select a diff sound like you did above
now select track 1, go into poly config, allocation unison
you can leave that menu up while you play sounds on the kb to hear the diff
select voices 1 (uncheck others)…remember you are on track 1
you should hear a single voice playing the track 1 sound, now select 2 on voices…you should hear two voices playing track 1 sound
track one is using the voice from track 2 and playing both voices in unison, there are detune settings and whatnot as well
“use trk sounds” option basically will use the sound on the track where you select voices instead of using just multiple voices for the sound of the one track
so in the example above, if you have a pad sound on track 1, and you have voices 1 and 2 selected and allocation set to unison, you will hear 2 voices playing the pad sound…even if you had a string sound on track 2
now if you check off use trk sound and you have voices 1 and 2 selected, you will hear 2 voices, one playing the pad sound (on track 1) and the other voice playing the string sound (from track 2)
that’s basically what that option does, when you select the voice number it will use that voice for it’s own sound unless you check off use trk sound…in which case it will use the sound of the track you have selected on voices
so to expound even further say you had a bass on track 3 and you check off voices 1,2,3 and use trk sound, you would hear 3 voices, pad, string, and bass (while playing on track 1)
unselect voice 2 and you would hear 2 voices, pad sound and bass sound, unselect use trk sound and you will hear 2 voices playing the pad sound (it is using the voice from track 3)
hopefully that makes a little more sense…didn’t mean to be long winded
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it should be mentioned that poly config is extremely flexible thx to how elektron implemented it
i.e. say I want to play a bass line and some chords but I never want the chords stealing my bass line voice
I could put my bass line on track 1, go into poly config and make sure track 1 was not selected…that way it wasn’t included as a voice that could be used for poly
then you have the different allocation modes where you control exactly how the voice stealing takes place if it has to happen
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hey subq
good morning! … I just got up, had a coffee (watched a docu about immortal jelly fish) AND
read through your explanation which you so kindly put your energy and time into for me to learn on my A4 …
BIG BIG thanks for that exquisit, detailed, logical well executed explanation, all the examples and extra bits in pieces you included there
to make it understandable, logic, follow-able and also took things to a more complex level by assuming what I would have wanted to hear!
really really reeeeeeaaaly helpful!
I am thinking of renaming the title of thread to “Poly Settings Explained” … other users would learn a ton of skill from that!
Good idea! Changed to: “Explain A4 Poly Settings?”
Just up this Thread For Just say thanks ! The manual gives explanations too little details
Just got my A4, wow so impressed! Just wanted to ask a question though how does kit polyphony work? I expected it to be so you can play multiple notes per track but it seems to work more like choke groups? I’ve read the manual but I don’t speak elektron lol. Can someone put the different modes in simple speak? Cheers!
Edit…
Read this:
You can only play four notes at once no matter what. Its a four voice synth. You can play one note on each of the four tracks or all four notes on one track or three notes on one track and one note on another.
What you call choke groups is usually referred to as voice stealing.
@InTheAM ahhh cool mate, i got ya!
Can you explain a little further about the modes, and how they work (in ‘stealing’ notes from other tracks)??
Thanks for your reply
I don’t feel qualified to explain voice allocation–I understand it in my head, but doubt I’d explain it well.
Unison is well…unison : ) It uses all the voices to play the same note. You can use the Unison Detune to make a thicker sound. This detunes all the voices slightly so you get more harmonics (?). If you look up a basic definition of Unison it may help haha. In this mode you play only one note at a time on any of the tracks (it essentially turns the A4 into a monosynth). A lot of dance music uses unison voicing modes for big lead sounds as they tend to be “thick” and stand out in a mix.
I can explain Unison too ! 
I admit that pictures in the manual are not very helpful.
You understand Use Track Sound for sure…You’re not stupid.
I understood better testing by ear, but I can’t explain it right now what were my conclusions, because behaviours of poly priorities are difficult to understand when you use poly, internal sequencer, Sound Locks, external keyboard, Multi Map…
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Yeah mate, I kind of just messed with different settings and kind of got my head round it. Can’t really explain what’s happening, but it can create nice variations on different patterns
A lot of interesting combinations with Octatrack !
For exemple, 4 tracks of soundlocks on A4, you play poly over it with OT… 
That’s unique. 
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explain this again mate, how does this work? what am i achieving here? Sounds good, just like more detail. Cheers man
Just give it a try, you record notes in A4, with track sounds, you can add Sound Locks playing them with 2 clic in a track, go to sound pool, choose and play/rec.
If you play over your records with a keyboard or Ot’s Arp, or sequences, it will replace A4’s notes.
Can’t tell you more right now.
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Is Rotate best option for long decay Pads?
Thanks David
thanks for that I copied that into my notes…I still dont get it…lol
ren